Abstract

COETZEE, Melinde  and  ESTERHUIZEN, Kerith. Psychological career resources and coping resources of the young unemployed African graduate: an exploratory study. SA j. ind. Psychol. [online]. 2010, vol.36, n.1, pp.1-9. ISSN 2071-0763.

ORIENTATION: Youth unemployment in South Africa presents unique challenges to the young unemployed graduate and requires a range of psychological coping capacities from the young adult. RESEARCH PURPOSE: This study explored the relationship between the psychological career resources (as measured by the Psychological Career Resources Inventory) and coping resources (as measured by the Coping Resources Inventory) of a sample of 196 young unemployed African graduates. MOTIVATION FOR STUDY: There is an increasing need for career counsellors and practitioners to explore the psychological attributes and career-related resources that young people employ or require to help them deal with the challenges posed by unemployment during the school-to-work transition phase of their lives. RESEARCH DESIGN, APPROACH AND METHOD: A survey design and quantitative statistical procedures were used to achieve the research objective. Convenience sampling was used on a population of 500 unemployed graduate black people who attended a 12-week Work Readiness Programme (39% response rate). MAIN FINDINGS: Multiple regression analyses indicated that dimensions of psychological career resources contribute significantly to explaining the proportion of variance in the participants' coping resources scores. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: The insights derived from the findings can be employed by career counsellors and practitioners to construct a more comprehensive career framework for the individual in the school-to-work transition phase. CONTRIBUTION/VALUE-ADD: The findings add valuable new knowledge that can be used to inform career services concerned with guiding and counselling young graduates in the school-to-work transition phase.

Keywords : career adaptive behaviour; career guidance; coping attributes; employability; school-to-work transition; unemployed graduate.

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